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Tuesday, 11 August 2015

"You've taken a real beating, my friend," Lily
says, squatting next to Huthgar and placing her hand upon his shoulder.
"Between that 'cape' creature and the lizard, you've had a heck of a
day."

"Ah need a ale," the dwarf breathed.

"Can you continue?" the Wizard asked. "Or do
you need rest?"

"Ack, no," the dwarf replied. "Ah can go
on."

"I'll take the lead," offered Samuel. "Perhaps if
we drop a torch down there, it will provide enough light for me."

"Unnecessary," Erlik informed the Fighter. "I
have a spell I've been saving for this. When you're ready, I'll cast it."

"Huthgar, sure you're ready?" Samuel asked.

"Aye, lad," Huthgar replied. "Ah jus need'd
ta catch ma breath."

Erlik nodded and moved to the ledge. "Illuminatus
sphericus flotaetum." Four glowing balls of light appeared in the air
in front of the Wizard. They began to move down the shaft. "The bottom's
only about ten feet down. I'm only going to move them about ten feet forward;
don't want to lose sight of them." He stood to the side, so that Samuel
might access the ladder.

Samuel paused next to Erlik. "Why couldn't you do this
when that 'flappy thing' put us in darkness?" The shaft and lower tunnel were bathed in light.

"This spell is not powerful enough to dispel magical
darkness," Erlik replied. "It also isn't going to last for very long,
so I suggest you get moving . . . before you find yourself in darkness
again."

Samuel stepped onto the ladder and started down. "It's
still holding," he called out. He sniffed. "Something smells down here!"

About two feet from the bottom, he let go of the ladder and
dropped to the ground. He swung his shield to the front -- it was held across
his back by means of a shoulder strap -- and slung it onto his left arm,
immediately drawing his sword afterwards.

"Looks like the tunnel descends sharply for
another ten feet, then levels out!" he shouts up.

Lily stood net to Erlik. "Damn! Just how deep is
this place?"

"I think we're there," Erlik replied. "You
should get down there quickly, before my spell ends and Samuel finds himself
confronting whatever this thing is in the dark. The creature's sure to have the
advantage over him under such circumstances."

"Ah be right b'hind ye lass," Huthgar told her.

"Right," Lily breathed, then stepped onto the
ladder. Reaching the bottom, she moved to just behind Samuel.
"Anything yet?"

"You're not going to hear me complain, big
boy," Lily agreed. "Mister Mysterious says those lights of his will
be going out soon." She gave a curt nod. "We'll wait for him to get
here with his lantern." She held hers up higher, over the Fighter's
shoulder.

"Riiight," breathed Samuel.

"Oof!" This burst of air announced the
arrival of Huthgar. "Damn!"

"What's the matter?" Lily asked excitedly, turning
her head to look at the dwarf.

"Our friend," Erlik told them. "And judging
by the intensity of the odor . . . there's more than one of them."

"Mor'n one o' wha?" asked the dwarf.

"That," Erlik replied, pointing down the
passageway.

Charging up the tunnel -- slowed slightly by the ascent -- came what appeared to be a reptilian creature that looked somewhat humanoid. It was a little
shorter than a human and spindly, but with muscular arms and walking -- or
running in this case --erect on its
squat legs, trailing a long, slender tail. Its head was lizardlike and crowned
with a frill that extended from the forehead to the base of the neck. Its eyes
were black and beady, but seemed to glow in the darkness. Its maw was opened wide, displaying sharp and jagged
teeth. The creature hissed loudly as it charged.

It raised its arm and then shot it forward. A
javelin whizzed past Samuel's head and nearly impaled the Wizard, tearing the sleeve of his robe. Another javelin
could be clearly seen in the creature's clawed hand.

"Keep an eye out for a second one!"
called Erlik, raising his right hand and preparing another spell. He held his
lantern high with his left hand.

Lily remained incapacitated against the wall
of the tunnel, falling to a sitting position, although she managed to bring her
lantern to bare on the unfolding scene.

The dwarf continued his descent. Thus far, the simple ladder
had held up remarkably well, though not without creaking and groaning and such
other protestations as wood can give under a fairly heavy load.

Ten feet from the bottom of the shaft, Huthgar reached the
next tunnel.

"Ah be here!" he shouted up. "Nae any tr'uble!
C'mon duwn!" The dwarf stepped into the tunnel, taking his war hammer from its resting place -- upon his back -- and making ready,
awaiting the arrival of his companions.

Lily quickly descended and joined Huthgar, her lantern
lighting the way. "Seems to go a little ways."

Erlik arrived with his lantern, closely followed by Samuel.
"Shall we?" the Wizard asked.

Huthgar moved forward and soon reached a slight dip. As
his companions joined him, their lanterns revealed a thick, soupy gray water
which filled the cavern. A very narrow beach -- of a sort -- lined the pool at
their end.

"Look!" Samuel pointed to their right.

Some
ten feet away was a lizard. The
lizard was fairly large as lizards go -- about the size of a terrier -- perhaps a foot tall at its back and weighing maybe twenty-five pounds. It had a bullet-shaped head sporting a
large pair of horns that swept back from the sides like spiky ears. A similar
structure was evident on the tip of its tail. Its skin went from a pale gray on its belly to a pale blue along its
sides, turning into a dark blue on its back, intermingled with black markings
along its back and tail.

The lizard began making clicking sounds and
the skin on everyone's arms started tingling, their hairs standing on end.

"That's called a Shocker Lizard,
my friends," Erlik explained. "And what you're feeling is the
electrical current it's generating."

"Well, Paco wants his mine back,"
said Samuel. "And -- though it may not be much -- he's paying us.
Can we leave this thing here?"

"No, not really," Erlik replied.
"They're capable of stunning a foe from five feet away. If there are two
of them, well, they could kill a man from as much as twenty feet away. So . . .
no, we can't leave it here." Erlik looked around. "Anybody see
another one of these things?"

Everyone began scanning the area, while
keeping an eye on the lizard in front of them.

"Well, we passed a marshy area on the way
here," Erlik answered. "That's the type . . . look out!"

The lizard suddenly dashed forward to within
range, raised its head and tail, then let go with a buzzing sound. A bluish
glow seemed to emanate from it, striking Huthgar and Samuel, running along
their armor.

Samuel threw his head back. "Aieeeee!"

Huthgar seemed to double over. "Argh!"

Erlik's hand shot forward. "Nok!"

Two bluish balls of scintillating light
streaked from his outstretched hand, slamming into the lizard and tossing it
backwards. Momentarily stunned, it lay upon the ground, twitching.

Without speaking Lily hurled her dagger at the
reptile, but it buried its point harmlessly into the ground, close to the
lizard. "Damn!" she cursed as she dropped her lantern and drew
two throwing daggers.

The moment passed and the lizard was up on
its feet, ready to do battle.

"Ack,no ya doon't!" cried Huthgar, recovering and swinging his war
hammer with two hands, burying the head deep into the soft ground near the
water.

The bluish lizard scrambled over the hammer's head and
up the handle.

"Damn it's quick!" shouted Samuel,
striking at the creature with the flat of his blade, in order to avoid harming Huthgar or his hammer. The lizard appeared to
give a little "yip" as the blade of Samuel's sword struck its tail.

Again a bluish burst seemed to emanate from
the reptile and again Samuel's and Huthgar's chain armor acted as a conduit for the
electrical charge. Man and dwarf cried out together and fell upon their hands and knees.

Erlik's hand stabbed at the creature once
more. "Nok!"

Once again two scintillating bluish balls of
light streaked out and stuck the creature full on. Slammed backwards once more,
the lizard fell upon the ground, twitched once, then lay still.

Lily moved to recover her thrown dagger.
"Judging by the way it felled Sam and 'Gar, it's a damn good thing you had
the spells to spend!"

"Oh, those little bastards can be plenty
dangerous, alright," Erlik agreed. "Let's just be glad there weren't
two of them in here." He looked around, a pensive expression on his face.
"A colony of them would be even worse."

"Damn, that hurt," Samuel rasped as he also rose from the ground.
"I don't know how much more of that I could have taken."

"The charged centered on the two of you,
delivering its full impact," Erlik explained. "It's your armor; metal
attracts electricity.In a way, that
was good. Had I been incapacitated by the lizard's attack . . ." he
shrugged. "It might have even finished us off."

"Think this is what was attacking Paco's
house?" asked Samuel.

Erlik shook his head. "No. You saw the
claw marks; too high up for this thing. Plus, Ralph would have made one heck of
a meal for so small a creature. Perhaps if we had discovered a colony of
them, that might have explained the . . . consumption of Ralph, but it
still wouldn't have explained the claw marks on the cabin."

"We need ta examin' 'dis cavern,"
suggested Huthgar. "Make sure nae mor' o' the buggers be in here." He
leaned the handle of his hammer against the wall. "Firs' tho', I need to
be asking' Faeter Moradin fer some healin' fer the two o' us."

"Ha! There was no evidence that there was more
than one gem!" Lily retorted."We wasted . . . hey! What happened to the lanterns?"

"Ah cannae see!" cried Huthgar.

The tunnel was suddenly thrown into darkness.

"It's not the lanterns," Erlik answered. "I
can just see mine, if I hold it up to my face. This is a magical darkness.
Beware!"

"Wha be causin' it?" asked Huthgar.

"Really?" Erlik countered. "From a Dwarf?
Can you not think of several creatures of the underground that could do
such a thing?"

"Drow!" cried Huthgar.

Though no one could see the action, the Wizard buried his
face in his palm. "Doh! If it were Drow, we'd already have
been set upon!" he decreed. "Heaven's mercy. If it were Drow
they wouldn't have scratched at Paco's door . . . they'd have burned the
house down."

"We continue on," said Lily. "Whatever this
thing is, it moved in during Paco's absence, or else he'd know about it."

"True enough," agreed Erlik. "Whatever it
turns out to be, we can't leave it in here. Huthgar, surely you have a sense --
a feeling -- for the tunnel?"

"Aye laddie, tha ah do," the Dwarf replied.

"Alright then, everyone take hold of the person in
front of them; belt, shirt, whatever," Erlik directed the group.
"Huthgar, push forward. Paco said there was a cavern area at the end of
this tunnel; take us there."

With everyone taking a grip on the person in front of them,
the companions pushed forward. It wasn't long before the floor leveled out.

"Paco did say they use a makeshift crane for hauling
the sacks of salt out." Erlik looked around, then pointed. "Probably
that thing." He pointed at a contraption off to the side. "Given that
he and Ralph didn't wear heavy armor when they mined the salt . . ." He
shrugged.

The Dwarf stuffed a torch into his belt. "Right,
careful as ah go," he acknowledged, stepping onto the ladder.

The Dwarf cautiously made his way down the ladder to the
entrance of the first tunnel. "Thae be a bracket here!" he called up.
Shoving the torch into the sconce, he lit it.

"There's the light," observed the Wizard.
"You should go next," he said, looking at the Rogue. "In case
our uninvited guest has taken precautions against intruders?"

"Traps; right." With that, Lily hopped onto the
ladder and quickly made her way down.

"You next," said Samuel. "If the ladder's
going to break, it will do so under my weight. Best you already be down
there."

"Yes," breathed Erlik. "All of us trapped
together. Well, that's one way to go." The Wizard stepped onto the ladder
and was soon joined with the others.

In a few moments, Samuel joined them. "Well, the ladder
held together."

The tunnel was just wide enough for two people to stand next
to each other and perhaps twenty feet long. Roots grew down, out of the
ceiling, which was just high enough for the six foot tall Samuel to stand
erect, with a couple of inches to spare.

"Here be tha s'plies Paco told of," said Huthgar.

"Ugh!" Lily croaked. "And here's the
foot."

Erlik bent down and looked closely at the appendage.
"Yes, yes, these are teeth marks." He pointed to the ragged
flesh at the end of the appendage, which had been severed just about half way up the calf. "This was
bitten off."

"Our friend, here . . . apparently," Erlik
replied, continuing his examination. "Well, that rules out the possibility of those two
giving it indigestion."

"I'd say so," Lily agreed.

"And what's this?" Erlik shoved a
small clump of feces to the side and, putting the pick handle down, reached
into his robes, pulling out a pair of tweezers. A sparkle of green glinted in
the lantern light. He took hold of it with his tweezers and brought it fully
into the light.

"Don't!" the Rogue cried.
"Don't! He's just trying to bait you. You need to stop letting him. As
long as he knows it's working, he won't stop."

"You two spoil all the fun," the Fighter complained.
"Huthgar and I . . ."

The big man stopped speaking as a simple home came into
view; smoke rising from the stone chimney. Partly timber construction, partly
rough cut stone, it was a ramshackle place, with only a small garden off to the
side. It looked to be about a story and a half tall.

"Nae much o' a farm, I be thinkin'," said Huthgar.

"That garden's not big enough for much more than a
family," Erlik offered. "I'm guessing that 'farming' isn't how this
man makes his living."

"Well, there's smoke," said Lily. "Maybe
he'll trade us a meal for a few coppers?"

The group approached the home slowly. As they neared, a
shutter opened on a window and the face of a man peered out at them. A moment
later, the face disappeared, the shutter closed and the door opened.

A man stood just outside the door, wearing homespun and worn
leather boots. He looked nervously towards a wooden platform not too distant
from his door, then back at the group.

"Greetings my good man," said Erlik. "My
friends and I have been traveling for some time and would appreciate a place to
rest and some hot food. We can pay."

The man opened his mouth, then hesitated as he looked at the man in red robes. "Greetings . . . friend," he finally replied, in a tenor voice that sounded nervous. "I would gladly offer ya and ya companions food,
but it may not be safe." He again looked nervously towards the wooden
platform.

"If that's possible, I would be most grateful," the
man quickly responded. "My name is Paco and I am a salt miner." He
pointed to the platform. "A creature has taken over my mine and killed my
helper!" His voice grew louder as his excitement built. "It's even
attacked the house a couple of times!" He pointed at the door and walls of
the home.

"Let's see," Samuel said, as he dismounted. He
walked over to the door and examined it closely, then the wall on either side.
"These are claw marks . . . deep ones." He looked at his friends.
"Something's been trying to get in alright."

The group dismounted.

"Please, if you can help; the tax collector is due any
day," Paco continues. "I don't have any real money and I haven't been
able to get into my mine for almost two weeks now! The tax collector willtake most of the salt I presently have -- if
we can even get to it -- but I'll still have a few sacks left over. I have a
wife and two small children. Free us of this monster and I'll give you three of
the remaining sacks!"

"We can pro'bly get mor'n a few silver fer a couple
sacks o' salt," said Huthgar.

Lily sneered at the Dwarf. "There's some kind of
monster trying desperately to eat a woman and two children and you're
thinking about money?"

"How'd ya know 'tis tryin' tae ate 'em?" the Dwarf
retorted.

"It ate my friend!" cried Paco, his posture
suddenly slumping "At least, all I ever found of him was his . . . uh,
foot." The miner swallowed hard. "All I found was his foot and a
part of his lower leg."

Lily slapped the Dwarf on his shoulder. "See?"

"While Huthgar is correct in thinking that we must be
practical," Erlik chimed in. "Lily is also correct in thinking that
there is no need for us not to be charitable; two sacks of salt would be
sufficient, I think." The Wizard looked at Paco. "As long as they come
with a home cooked meal and a place for us, and our horses, to spend the
night?"

Paco's face lit up with signs of hope. "You're welcome
to put your animals in the lean-to," he pointed to the other side ofhis home. "And the four of you are
welcome to bed down in the main room for the night. My wife is a good cook;
but there won't be much. The creature -- whatever it is -- has left our garden
alone and we've been able to tend it, a little, during the day; along with some harvesting.
But the meat's about gone and most of the flour. " He shrugged. "I
haven't been able to hunt , or go to town, and that, that . . . thing,
killed and devoured the last of my pigs four days ago. There's enough venison
left for a nice stew, but not enough for steaks."

" A hearty stew sounds just fine," Lily replied,
looking at her companions.

"Well, there's still plenty of daylight," says
Samuel. "No sense giving this thing -- whatever it is -- a chance to kill
our horses during the night. How big is this mine?" he asked, turning to
Paco.

"I have a map inside my home," Paco replied
excitedly. "I can give you all the information you need. There are even
some supplies in my storage tunnel; the first one you'll come to. The salt
deposits in it played out last year. There's two small cask of lantern oil, two
lanterns and three hundred feet of rope stored there" He swallowed hard
again. "You'll find Ralph's . . . foot, in there as well. My boys can tend
your animals while we go inside and look over the map; if you'd like?"

"By all means," agreed the Wizard. "Let's go
inside and make our plans."

"How does that connect to a haunted house?" asked
Erlik, daubing ale from his red robes with a towel and shaking his head. "Slob," he breathed.

"Tomb, not house," corrected Lily.

"Tomb, house . . ." the wizard shrugged.
"What's the difference? Haunted is haunted in this place. I mean, we're sitting in a
tavern called the Wailing Banshee; of all things."

"Sir Reginald is dead and buried," said Samuel, belaboring the obvious.
"So there's some difference."

"Brom nae be a ghost!" insisted Huthgar.
"He's a evil bastard, aye, have no doubt, and a powerful cleric . . . but no
ghost!"

"Okay, so he's an evil, bastard cleric that's fixing to
be a ghost," Erlik shrugged again. "The townspeople want the bandits
dealt with; driven off or killed. Let's just be about it."

"Aye!" cried Huthgar, jumping to his feet and lifting his waraxe over his head. "'Tis high time tha
bastard died!"

The Manor #5, by our friend, Tim Shorts, of Gothridge Manor,
is filled with little one off adventures this time around, as opposed to the
single adventure we have come to expect. In the above "short" I've
combined one of the characters found within with Tim's latest offering: Crypt
of Sir Reginald. I'm using the Crypt to supplant the Haunted House offered --
located on page twenty -- in this issue of The Manor.

Tim's a good man for coming up with ideas. This time he's
collaborated with Chris Coski and Sean Robson, two names that are unknown to
me, alas. Jay Penn -- another unknown to me -- provided the artwork, making for
some right evil looking bastards. Well done Jay!

Sean Robson provided a nice list -- located on page twelve
-- from which to create tavern names; I used one above. I plan on using one of
Chris Coski's Cursed Concoctions -- located on page nine -- in the next short.
A friend has talked me into writing a story based upon Tim's offerings, though
it didn't take much arm twisting to tell you the truth.

Now that I'm working with The Manor #5, I'll be using
characters and concoctions offered within to tell the story of our intrepid
adventurers: Huthgar, Lily, Samuel and Erlik. I'll be posting the stories here,
on the Blog, in chapter form.

Thursday, 26 February 2015

"I've never been so hung over
in all my life," groaned Lily. "I didn't know I could drink so
much."

A man entered the tavern, a dandy, judging by his
dress. He walked into the middle of the room, right next
to their table.

"Hear ye! Hear ye!" The man bellowed.

"By the gods!" Samuel
cried out in agony, grabbing his head and trying to bury his face in the table.
"Make it stop!"

"The Hamlet of Low Ridge is calling
for the assistance of a group of brave individuals to rid the region of a pack
of horrible creatures!" The crier continued, in a loud, clear voice. "Any interested parties
are to travel to Low Ridge and meet with Walter, Bailiff of Low Ridge! Reward
will be negotiated upon acceptance!"

"I'm merely doing my job,"
the dandy replied. "There's trouble in Low Ridge and they seek adventurers.
I was told that you were adventurers. I've read the flyer and cried the news, I
shall go now."

"Wait a minute," said
Huthgar. "Just wait a minute." The dwarf looked at his companions.
"I lost three teeth in that last fight."

"So?" Lily looked at the dwarf through blood-shot eyes.

"So, I've still got more teeth
than I've got coins," Huthgar replied, hooking his thumb in the direction of the
crier. "This guy's offering us work."

"He's advertising work,"
Samuel corrects. "Not offering."

Lily swung her head to look at
Samuel and immediately regretted it. "Ugh!" She put her hand to her forehead. "So what's the difference?"

Samuel shrugged. "Nothin', I
guess." He turned his head to look at the crier and groaned. "So,
what's this job again?"

Thus begins the Adventure: Incident
at Butcher Creek.

The Manor, issue #4, is larger than
Tim's first three endeavors, because it's a longer adventure.
Tim uses creatures unique to himself, I'm thinking, as I am unfamiliar with
several of those he outlines in this issue. Although some of his monsters are
familiar to me, if a bit different.

The problem at Low Ridge is the
Shadow Panthers plaguing the town. For a description of this animal, think
Displacer Beast. (For some reason I couldn't copy & paste this from the
pdf) The artist rendition found in the 2nd Edition Monster Manual is
more in line with Tim's Shadow Panther than is the artwork depiction in the 3.5
Monster Manual. Only, remember that the Shadow Panthers have four tentacles,
not two.

While the Shadow Panthers are the
immediate problem, they are not the only problem and certainly not the
"biggest" problem, especially over the long term. No, that honor
belongs to the Or'Drog, a creature of Chaos, from the Abyss. It's trying to
build a gate into our world; something that cannot be allowed, obviously.

"The shadow panthers are a problem," admits Horta, the village Elder. "But they're not the only problem, nor the biggest."

"There's a bigger problem?" ask Samuel, eyes wide.

"Oh yes," Horta replies. "A much bigger problem and a more dangerous one."

"Well this just keeps getting better and better," says Lily, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

The Or'Drog is slowly corrupting the
people of the village of Low Ridge. Its shape is that of a floating head,
similar in concept to a Beholder, or a Grell, but with powers all its own.
Confusion, Charm, Sleep and Polymorph are its main weapons, though there are a
few others.

All in all, a very nice little
adventure, something I've come to expect from Tim. And Tim throws in a few
other unique monsters near the end. Another fine work from our friend Tim, over
at Gothridge Manor.

Saturday, 21 February 2015

I use House Rules to correct
mistakes. The mistakes are not perceived, they are real. Take for instance:
Frostburn.

I was looking through this
publication just the other day and came across yet another example of the
Writers not understanding their Stats and the Editors not catching, or
correcting, the mistake. In Frostburn, they confuse Strength with Dexterity.

What is Strength? Strength is
damage, plain and simple. What is Dexterity? Dexterity is "to hit,"
plain and simple.

When Heracles tries to grab the wily
little thief, he misses. That's poor Dexterity. But, what happens when Heracles
finally succeeds in grabbing him? The wily little thief is finished. That's
Strength. Heracles has a hard time catching the quick little rogue, but, once
he does, Heracles deals incredible damage.

The mailed Knight foolishly laughs at
d'Artagnan. Why? The Knight knows that d'Artagnan cannot ever pierce all that
plate armor. That's poor Strength. But, as I said, the Knight does so
foolishly. Why? Because of d'Artagnan's great Dexterity. We all know that d'Artagnan
is most definitely going to find – and hit – that one spot where the Knight's
armor doesn't fill the tiny gap. Poor Strength, yes, but fantastic Dexterity.

Strength is damage, plain and
simple. Dexterity is "to hit," plain and simple.

In Frostburn, I find that they
assign the Dire Polar Bear (page 115) a +25 "to hit" with its Claw
Attack and a +20 "to hit" with its Bite Attack. The Dire Polar Bear
has Strength of 39 and Dexterity of 11.

In Frostburn, I find that they
assign the Saber-toothed Tiger (page 118) a +10 "to hit" with its
Claw Attack and a +12 "to hit" with its Bite Attack. The
Saber-toothed Tiger has Strength of 24 and Dexterity of 14.

So, the animal with the worse
Dexterity has a much better chance of hitting its target than the animal with
the best Dexterity. This makes sense to you?

The Dire Polar Bear's bite does 3d8+7
points of damage, while the Saber-toothed Tiger's bite does 2d6+7 points of
damage.

So, the animal with the worse
Dexterity has a much better chance of "hitting" its target than does
the animal with the better Dexterity, while at the same time, the animal with the
much greater Strength does only a little more damage than the animal with the
considerably lesser Strength.

Absolutely nonsensical.No, I cannot foresee a time when I will forgo House Rules.